Holmgren's clock is ticking

[JHabs]

Count me among those who don’t feel the Flyers will benefit by immediately firing General Manager Paul Holmgren.

However, he definitely deserves to be on the hot seat.

Holmgren has definitely left himself open to criticism, and his team has struggled mightily over the past calendar year, but people seem to forget that Holmgren took over a team in abject disarray, which was easily the worst team in the NHL, and built it into a Stanley Cup contender in a very short while. Going from dead last to being in the Eastern Conference Final is not exactly the mark of a moron who isn’t a capable manager.

That said, Holmgren has made mistakes. Some were on his own hook, others were done with pressure from above. I’d like to take a look at some of the things he’s most often criticized about and see just how bad he’s really been.

One huge criticism of Holmgren is cap management. But, he’s far from the only team that routinely is near the salary cap on an annual basis, nor is he the only GM that was forced to make questionable trades or lose players on waivers due to cap management issues. Ken Holland is widely viewed as a master GM, the standard bearer for other GM’s to emulate and copy. Well, Holmgren managed to get a a good second line scoring winger from Holland for the broken down corpse of Ole-Kristian Tollefsen because the Red Wings didn’t have the cap room to being back some of their injured stars during the 2009-10 season.

As of this writing, 10 NHL teams are technically over the cap and using LTIR to maintain their roster. Six more clubs have less than $1mm in cap space. Holmgren’s cap management has been less than stellar, but he’s not alone.

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[Flyersfan731]

Is clock has been ticking since Ron came in

 

[Garbage Goal]

If you ever peruse this board, nobody has forgotten the one year turnaround when he took over. That's literally the first positive for him that comes up when we talk about him.

 

[Garbage Goal]

If you ever peruse this board, nobody has forgotten the one year turnaround when he took over. That's literally the first positive for him that comes up when we talk about him.

Also, between the insinuation that we've all somehow forgotten about him making that turnaround and the insinuation that we're mad about us being at the cap rather then stupid signings that force us into being at the cap and, in the past, signing emergency tryouts just to fill roster spots is annoying.

No offense, but that article seems like it's written by someone who very obviously isn't a Flyers fan and thinks they know the situation with Holmgren when they clearly don't.

 

[Jack de la Hoya]

That wasn't a very insightful read.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Mark me down as not assuming that Hextall is a savior.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

If you ever peruse this board, nobody has forgotten the one year turnaround when he took over. That's literally the first positive for him that comes up when we talk about him.

There's a good portion of this board (or at least there was) who refused to give Holmgren credit for that because the moves he made were "obvious" and anyone would have done the same thing.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

There's a good portion of this board (or at least there was) who refused to give Holmgren credit for that because the moves he made were "obvious" and anyone would have done the same thing.

Just like there are some who dont want to give him any fault for this teams doward turn in the last couple of years. They say oh that is on the players. When the team does very well its the greatness of Paul Holmgren putting the team together.
He can take credit but he cant take the blame. But that should be expected. Paul Holmgren is part of "The Flyer Family". He gets more of a pass then if we had a guy at GM who didnt have a history with this team.

 

[Alchemy]

Just like there are some who dont want to give him any fault for this teams doward turn in the last couple of years. They say oh that is on the players. When the team does very well its the greatness of Paul Holmgren putting the team together.
He can take credit but he cant take the blame. But that should be expected. Paul Holmgren is part of "The Flyer Family". He gets more of a pass then if we had a guy at GM who didnt have a history with this team.

So I guess there is no accurate portrayal of Holmgren.

 

[Embiid]

Did the author really formulate these observations on his own....doesn't seem like it to me. Not a very convincing article....just a bunch of disparate points Flyers fans have been making on this board it seems.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

So I guess there is no accurate portrayal of Holmgren.

I am not saying he doesnt have his good points. He has a good eye for young talent for the most part. But the important things like cap mangement are not a very strong suit for him.